DALLAS (Ticker) -- Considering his team got a point, the night could have been worse for Dallas Stars goaltender Marty Turco.
Turco made two stickhandling mistakes that led to goals and misplayed Andy McDonald's shot from center ice with 11:41 to go in the third period as the Stars squandered a two-goal lead and settled for a 3-3 tie with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
Second-period goals by Jason Arnott and newly acquired defenseman Jon Klemm gave Dallas a 3-1 lead late in the second period. But Vaclav Prospal tracked down Turco's clearing attempt and fed Petr Sykora, who scored on a wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle.
With Anaheim on a power play midway through the third, McDonald's 100-foot blast skipped once on the ice before squeezing between Turco's pads.
"I was down and waiting for it," Turco said. "I'm not sure if it bounced or not. I didn't misplay it or anything ... he just went into a hole that was vulnerable."
"Goalie is a tough position, with the mental thing," Ducks defenseman Ruslan Salei said. "When goalies struggle, the whole team should help him. This is no indication of what type of goalie he is."
McDonald also scored in the opening period after Turco coughed up the puck at the side of the net.
"I thought Turco was a factor in all three goals," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "That's just the reality of the situation. I don't think Marty's playing as well as he would like to recently, but he's a battler and we need him to continue to battle and get to where he wants to be."
"I think teams are catching on to the way he handles the puck," added Dallas captain Mike Modano. "They know how well he plays it and they're going right at him."
Turco bounced back and gloved Sami Pahlsson's one-time blast from the top of the slot with 4:45 left in regulation. He also helped the Stars kill a holding penalty on defenseman Richard Matvichuk in overtime after Dallas defenseman Teppo Numminen could not get off a shot while facing a half-empty net.
"I saw a lot of positive things tonight," Tippett said. "There are still little things we continue to address, but overall, I saw more positive than negative tonight."
The Ducks got 26 saves from Martin Gerber and have earned points in seven straight games (3-1-3).
"We've played some good teams and we haven't been world-beaters, but it looks like we're getting better," Anaheim coach Mike Babcock said.
Modano erased a first-period deficit with a power-play goal for Dallas, which had Jere Lehtinen in the lineup for the first time since October 11. The Selke Trophy winner missed 16 games due to back spasms.
